(Blipfish note: A well-written primer to the history of the tshirt – republished with permission)

T-shirts have come to signify relaxation, comfort, and a devil-may-care attitude. They are incredibly versatile and are a wardrobe essential for all busy people.

In the 1950s Brando, wore a plain white t-shirt with a black leather jacket. The chain-smoking, t-shirt wearing James Dean also played a part in making the t-shirt essential wear for a cool, rebellious youth. Punk sealed the t-shirts status as acceptable clothing for the new generation of rebels. Then, starting in the mid-1960s, people began using custom tees as placards to express political ideas and humor.

While t-shirts became acceptable as everyday clothing in the 1970′s it was punk rock that really sealed their position as the standard clothing of a disenfranchised youth. Ultimately, rock t-shirts worn with jeans and sneakers became a uniform of conformist non-conformism. Now the t-shirts from these early days have become one of today’s hottest-and most costly-fashion trends. Vintage t-shirts and other collectible tees can sell for as much as $500.

Even as late as the 1980s, custom t-shirts were controversial. Their popularity as a garment of defiance came about in the mid 80s. Political custom t-shirts in South Africa were banned as the struggle against apartheid increased.

Today’s custom t-shirts continue to evolve with new styles, colors, piques, knits and new synthetic fabrics. They are showing up everywhere from corporate boardrooms to the golf course.Recent research suggests that sports teams which adorn their players with red t-shirts play better and win more games. While red tees may be associated with competition and winning, earth tone and white remain the most classic and popular choices.

It’s clear that Americans love their t-shirts. And since anything can be printed on them, custom tees will surely continue to be a means of personal expression. T-shirts signify patriotism, display one’s attitudes, feelings, product loyalty and political beliefs. T-shirts can be worn as underwear, pajamas and workout clothing. Many women have replaced the traditional blouse under a suit jacket with a nice custom t-shirt, indicating that the t-shirt is becoming more acceptable in the workplace.

There is no doubt that t-shirts are here to stay. No matter your age, size or sensibilities, if you feel the urge to express your view, to tell complete strangers how it is, to point out why you are right and everyone else is wrong, then get a t-shirt.

Ruth Lanham
Entrepreneur, Author, T-Shirt Designer

Ruth Lanham is a T-shirt designer who authors three websites and writes on various topics relating to t-shirt design and Christianity.

For more information or to contact Ruth please visit her website.

http://www.topteedesigns.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ruth_Lanham

Alright. Here’s the deal…

I know many people know about Press Releases. I know some have toyed with the notion of writing one. I also know that a few people tend to be scared-off by the mystery of the Press Release and the one person that remains… just doesn’t understand them enough to even bother sending one out.

That is a shame and we’re going to change that today!

Press Releases are valuable and critical elements of a successful marketing model. They’re not the end-all-be-all – but nothing is. They are, however, as important as paid advertising, link exchanges, and word of mouth for your story, business, product, event, or cause. If you don’t have a marketing machine that uses multiple avenues of gaining exposure… you’re missing out. If Press Releases aren’t a major gear in that machine… you’ll never know how much more you could be achieving.

From my perspective, there’s a few ways to handle Press Releases. There are rights and wrongs – like anything else. There are methods that are appropriate for some situations but not others. The problem is – we’ve finally hit a point where conventions established 80 years ago no longer apply, but that doesn’t mean that completely “modern” adaptations are the way to go. There are still “old school” media outlets out there that respond better to tried-and-true methods just as much as the internet has brought a new twist on things.

My goal is to give you, what I’ve come to know, is an effective balance between these approaches but still produce a Press Release that demands the attention of the right people in the right manner. It’s a departure from some of those “how-to” marketing books that seem to be printed and re-printed for the last 80 years – so this isn’t your father’s old Press Release.

A good Press Release:

1. Is awesome leverage for time and effort. A single piece of paper (the Press Release) can be faxed (or mailed, or emailed) to multiple media outlets in the offline and online world. You could potentially reach dozens, if not hundreds, of interested individuals in the media – all from a single Press Release.

2. Is also something you can post within your own company’s website or media portfolio. You don’t have one, you say? You should! Every time you craft a Press Release the first place it should go is in a publicly accessible publicity page on your own site or related sites. It’s yours… use it!

3. Is your first, best tool for gaining the attention of those who can get you PUBLICITY. Publicity is great because it’s like advertising you could never afford even if it could be bought. Imagine how expensive a half-page ad would be in the Wall Street Journal? Now, imagine how much more powerful a front-page article written about you would be in the Wall Street Journal! A paid ad, no matter now big, is always going to be perceived as a paid ad. An article written (even though free of charge) brings with it so much more… credibility, impact, interest, and gains the attention of people that an advertisement never gets.

4. Can repeat the above benefits again, and again, and again. Press Releases are about newsworthy stories. You’re not limited to one moment under the Sun. If you can look around and find (or create) a newsworthy story, event, cause or issue – time and again – you can craft a Press Release to help gain exposure to it via the media.

5. Gets the reader (likely to be an editor or inbound media manager) to get off his or her butt and get on the phone to arrange an interview.

To detail the benefit of a successful Press Release again:

1. The exposure you get (publicity) is free.
2. The amount of exposure you get can be greater (by most measures) than if you’d paid for that same exposure: word count, placement in a publication, reader visibility, etc.
3. The exposure you get is likely to be such that there is no, paid equivalent. It’s possible that no amount of money could produce a featured story the way a Press Release could.
4. Your credibility is improved because the general readership regards articles and stories on subjects with an interest typically not given to advertisements. Ads look and read like ads – and people’s defense mechanisms often filter advertising messages in a way that researched stories don’t suffer.
5. Repeatable.
6. Archived in an online format the search-engine-benefits of previous (and current) Press Releases (even if not picked up by a news agency) go on. Search engines love fresh, meaningful, robust content and having them viewable online gives more ways for online searchers to find information about you.
7. Press Releases are under your control. Even when not picked up by a service your readable (and searchable) Press Releases paint a picture of you, your event, service, or cause that you control – because you’re the one that wrote it. PR’s bolster your public image.

Okay, so let’s assume I’ve convinced you that there are multiple reasons to step up to using Press Releases? Let’s move on to demystifying them a little. They’re not as scary as you might think.

Okay, the basics. Here are, what I consider, to be the ground rules… and really things you shouldn’t try to alter because accepted format and standards for Press Releases haven’t changed all that much over the years. So, alienating an editor or media manager with goofy adaptations isn’t going to do you any favors.

1. Format. Format is king. Capitalization, brevity, specificity, sequence, information, spelling, grammar… they all must be correct. Let’s just lump these things into the category of “format” because, once established, one really doesn’t want to mess with it.

2. Fancy paper. Don’t. Even if you are submitting a Press Release about a classic car show to a car enthusiast magazine don’t do it on paper that has little hotrods driving around the borders. This isn’t the time to be cute. White paper – plain – 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper or a standard, computer text edited format free of graphics, colored backgrounds, or spiffy fonts.

3. Fancy fonts. Don’t. Times Roman, Courier, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana… plain-vanilla, readable, or (to play it safe) generally standard-issue fonts that you’d find on a typewriter (remember those things?) are the way to go. No comic-sans, no dingbats, no script, no handwriting, none of that.

When you’re writing a Press Release you’re in the media’s house and their rules say that they want to see standardized submissions and they don’t include colored paper with a colorful font. Don’t screw around here – it’ll get tossed into the garbage.

4. Don’t blanket bomb Press Releases. If you send a PR out to three online PR services, six magazines, two radio stations, and 40 medium-sized daily newspapers… don’t send it to a single one of them a second time. This isn’t to say you can’t hit them up later, with another PR for another topic, but a mistake people make is thinking that if they didn’t get a phone call it must mean the editor didn’t get it – therefor send it again for good measure. No. Don’t. It’s a big world out there and, although we’re going to improve your chances of getting noticed, the fact remains that not every PR sent to every outlet will be met with an instant response. Don’t annoy the outlet by bugging them a second time. If you send or submit it properly – assume it was received and the ball is in their court.

…this also means don’t call or write them to ask if they got it. You’ll find out very quickly that the quiet truth is that people do get blackballed and you’ll find it hard to gain that outlets attention in the future.

5. Write in the third person. This means not as yourself about yourself. Pronouns are “he” or “she,” for example.

According to blipfish you should write your Press Release in the third person.

Okay… on to the layout of an actual, honest-to-goodness Press Release…

Here’s a breakdown of the above guide Press Release – feel free to use it as a reference:

“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:”
This can be left as-is if it’s acceptable for it to be used now, tomorrow, five years from now, or never. If you leave directed “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” it’s up to the media when to use it. The only other – only other- way to format this is a date or event.

Examples:
“FOR RELEASE ON OR AFTER FATHER’S DAY 2008″
“FOR RELEASE AFTER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CONCLUDES”
“FOR RELEASE BEFORE 12/25/2008″

Again, be specific and don’t mess around here. The “for release” statement must be clear, concise, and specific. It also means that any parameters you leave open (“after” for example) could be soon after or many years after. There’s a point where it’s unreasonable to expect a story to be newsworthy in some cases but a media manager may decide that a PR from six months ago is still worth pursuing. It’s also written in capital letters, bolded, and left-justified.

There is one, additional release date modifier – a time modifier. It follows the same format, location, and purpose: defining a specific time if such a need arises. An example might be “FOR RELEASE AFTER 3PM MONDAY, JUNE 25th, 2006″ …such as when a shareholder meeting might conclude. It’s a little rare, but still a valuable modifier if needed.

Headline:

“Descriptive Headline Knocks Socks Off Editor”

Feel free to be creative and bold – but make it one sentence and one sentence only. This is it. This is where the curtain rises, the spotlight turns on, and it’s your moment to get the attention of someone that might be a little jaded and hard to impress… do your best dance right here, right now. Craft a headline that is genuine but attention-getting.

Do NOT use exclamation marks. Don’t do it. Just walk away from them. Sensationalistic nonsense will look and smell like either a rookie approach or like a spammy attempt at advertising instead of something truly newsworthy.

Left justify this line, bold it, but use only capital letters for the first letter of each word… not the entire word.

Body of Press Release:

Paragraph 1
Either the physical location of the event, story source, or you – as the subject. Format the city in all-capitals then capitalize only the first character of the State. Give the date in full format (eg. January 09, 2008).

This is to be your masterpiece within the masterpiece. This paragraph needs to be so strong that, if nothing else was read, it could still convey the important points and key information (Who, What, Where, When, and Why?). If nothing else, grab attention here, create an angle the media could latch on to and make this paragraph shine.

Additional Paragraphs
This is where you get into the details you made so fascinating in the above paragraph. You’ve got some room to move here because this is the primary body of your Press Release. If you’ve got specifics (and you should) this is the place to put them… quotes, numbers, facts, dates, locations, etc.

Don’t skimp, though. This is not the place to slack off the format, grammar, or sentence structure (I know, I’m one to talk, huh?).

Don’t forget who your audience is, either. The people or person who is most likely to read your Press Release probably gets hundreds a day (conservative estimate in larger markets). They check their fax machine, online account service, email, and mail in pretty quick fashion. They likely disqualify bright, colored sheets of paper, crazy font headlines, puppy paw print clipart, headlines with exclamation points, too-good-to-be-true sales-pitchy headlines, improperly formated pages, multiple pages, you name it. They can, and will, sort through stacks (virtual or otherwise) of PR’s with a callous and unforgiving eye. Not every reader will try to see the diamond in the rough. They’re looking for the more obvious, shining pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The likely audience is also probably hard to impress. After all, seeing hundreds of “look at me!” documents every day can make one a little jaded just as much as a little “psychic” toward picking winning Press Releases. Do yourself a favor and remember that you walk that fine line between dazzle and spam.

Your purpose is to convince the media source that there is a gem of a story in that Press Release and their readers, listeners, or viewers would really be interested to hear more – so they need to contact you right away and set up an interview. If you keep this objective in mind… you’ll do fine. Just keep the “So what?” mantra running through your head. If you can honestly say your Press Release answers a crabby reader’s question of “Yah, so what? Why should I care?” then you are doing well.

If you can finesse a few paragraphs, somewhere around 500 words, that detail and elaborate on the key points then you’ll have concluded the informative body of the Press Release. You’re past the halfway point!

At this point, do a quick check… do you need to provide sources for anything else? Now is the time to write shorter paragraphs that quickly and efficiently note any sources of additional information (websites, books, other articles, etc.)?

Do you need a quick paragraph to acknowledge intellectual or trademark rights? Is a quick statement about the company, organization, individual, etc. in order? Will a very quick history shed light on anything important?

Special Note: This is essentially the point where you put up or shut up your credentials. Everyone has credentials – even if you don’t know them. Make sure, however, that your credentials actually mean something to the scope of the Press Release. Nobody cares if you’re a physician writing a PR about fly-fishing in Oregon… but if you’re a 12-year veteran of the sport – that can be interesting!

If you don’t think you have credentials then think outside the box – but within the scope of the Press Release: your age, your height, a disability, neighborhood you live in, residence, career, hobby, diploma, college degree, family genealogy, accent, past employment, proximity to area, sensitive hearing, sufferer of migraines, animal lover… you name it. If you can bolster your position, honestly (if not creatively) by credentials that are relevant to the desired story – then include them here.

Contact Information:
Finally. You’re ready to lean forward to break the tape at the finish line. However, don’t relax, yet. Your contact information is still no place to fool around. Include the following, if applicable, and do not (I repeat: do not) play the game of “phone number provided upon request.” If you got a phone number (and it’s 2008 so you darn-well should) then put it down. Now is not the time to hold back on contact info. Your goal is to have the reader holding your Press Release in his or her hand and heading over to the quickest, best way to contact you… paper in hand at the phone, paper in hand at the computer – ready to send you an email.

Include direct information to you or the person who can answer the most questions about the Press Release subject. Don’t give a number to an answering service, don’t give an email to an auto-responder, don’t give an address of Mailboxes Etc. Give real, authentic, and direct contact info to a real human being that will hit the ball out of the park when the media calls or writes the information below.

Contact: Use this word just like you see it – left justified like everything else.
Include your first and last name. Remember, real human being – not a public relations department, not y our dog, not your Grandma (unless Grandma is the logical contact for the purpose of the Press Release).

Include an email address – preferably not a disposable one. I know, it’s 2008 and this means email is now a valid form of contact but you and I both know some free emails services (which I won’t name) just have such a bad reputation that nobody wants to risk passing over their email to reach you. Your internet service provided email or more “respectable” free services are really the way to go.

A physical address is acceptable as long as it has a purpose. Your privacy may be a concern (eg. a home address as opposed to your office’s workplace address) so it’s not essential. However, again, this is for additional contact information – not a mail service address.

Phone number. Come on… give a phone number you, or a real human, will actually answer – and include an extension if necessary. Don’t give a number to a switchboard, message service, or recording – do whatever it takes to ensure that when it rings it’s answered by a human who can bring it all home.

[Drumroll please...]

# # #

…those three pound signs. There’s just three of them… and they’re separated by a space, each. Notice they are NOT the word “END” or anything else like you may have seen. In case you’re wondering, it’s a top-secret code that journalists (new and old-school) love and respect. They mean “The End” – “There’s nothing more” – “That’s it – you have it all.”

There’s not magic formula for a Press Release. There are formats, layouts, and conventions to be observed… but the real art of crafting a good press release is something you’ll have to develop by writing them. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t aspire to do just that – practice makes perfect. However, there’s no reason your first PR can’t be a quality one that meets with success.

Make this one of those things that, for the sake of your business success, you do – even if it’s unfamiliar. I’m confident you’ll be glad you did.

Since she was “old enough to eat glue” she’s had her hand in some form of creativity. Sculptures, crafts, doodles, art, you name it – she’s enjoyed creating it. Her passion and joy for art shows through in her work and the success of JGoode Designs caught my attention a long time ago. It’s great for me to have a chance to interview Jen as she’s not only a respected peer but one of my friends.

Dan: Jen, it’s great to talk to you. For everyone’s benefit let’s start with the usual… tell us a little about yourself.

Jen: I’m a 4th generation Colorado native, however I’ve lived all over the country. I think that has a lot to do with my constant interest/need in seeing new places, meeting new people and trying new things.

I currently live in Colorado with my husband and 3 children. I have a love for creativity on all levels and I truly believe everyone is capable of creating amazing things, we each just need to find our own little creative outlet and niche. My official business name is JGoode Designs – I sign my art and title my artist name as “jgoode”, and my brand/business name is all encompassing for all of my various design and art including, but not limited to, illustration and cartoons featured on tshirts, gifts, cards, prints, etc. sold through various online venues as well as photography and some fine art. I also sell handmade gifts through on etsy.com and a retail shop in Littleton, Colorado called “Willow.” Also my art now seems to have a strong touch of “girliness.” I am not a girly girl. Or wasn’t. The more my family fills with boys, the more girly I become… I think my art is my female outlet sometimes.

Dan: I’ve admired your work and expertise as a business woman for a long time. It’s a real treat to interview you. Let me ask you a little pet-question I’ve had: The penguin-themed art… is that a niche you just fell into or are penguins your favorite, little critters?

Jen: First, let me say thank you! I am honored and delighted for this opportunity, this is so exciting! You were one of the first people I “met” online when I started with Cafepress, someone I looked up to as a mentor and now a friend. I’m honored you’d want to know more about me.

Penguin art, complete and total accident. Serendipitous. I’ve since become a huge penguin addict myself.. But this originally started as one of my many characters and a little self entertaining game. I love the egg shape of this character and through some nudging of a few friends thought it would be fun to dress him up. The character’s popularity grew and in turn, so did my visions of new outfits. Besides the penguin itself, the interest in this character has helped me solidify my style a bit more. Previously I was playing with a huge variety of illustration and design styles – since I have learned I love the doodle”, whimsical cartoon approach.

Dan: How would you describe your business? Is it entirely online? Or, is there an offline, multi-faceted element to it?

Jen: My business is a work in progress as is the art that drives it. I prefer to say I am a professional doodler than an artist because I feel like everything I do is more of a happy “doodle” dance type of creation than a serious artistic piece. I primarily sell illustrations featured on t-shirt, some decor and novelty gift items. However, I am also easily bored with myself and am constantly coming up with new ideas of things I’d like to try to create and sell. Usually I try these online through etsy. Some of these items end up in a retail location – a funky fun art shop across town.

Dan: How long have you been an artist?

Jen: Since conception. I’m pretty sure I was born an artist. My mother is an artist (just recreational usually) but she really encouraged me to make things or draw things whenever I felt like creating. The moment I realize I loved creating, that I remember most… I was about 7, I entered a coloring contest and won 1st prize. If I remember correctly, my prize was a $25 gift certificate for the shop running the contest… How cool is that? I was able to buy anything I wanted just because I colored something really nice, and my name was in the paper for winning.. That was delightful as well.

Dan: How long have you been a digital artist?

Jen: I was using Photoshop in 1992. In 1995 I was working as a Graphic Designer. I didn’t start really creating art as I am now, on the computer, until 2002 or so . Even then, I really didn’t get into digital illustration until 2005 when I starting using a Wacom drawing tablet.

Dan: So, tell me… how long have you had a business centered around your art? How did this all come about?

Jen: Around 2000 I started taking on client work for advertising, logo design/corporate identities, website design etc. I was originally working for a one man designer studio and soon realized that I wanted to be my own boss… So I just jumped in head first and tried it. In 2001 I started working for an online company, in addition to my client work, creating “fun pages” and greetings so my business design turned more into fun kids art.

After a few different transitions I ended up where I am now… One important transition was my side drawing that turned into this full time gig. I original had Lil’ Goodies (lilgoodies.com) as just “hobby” Lil is actually an acronym for “Love in Life”. This was a place I could post poetry and jokes and thoughts and eventually added my own art work. Then as I realized how much fun it was to sell my art online, I became official with “JGoode Designs” and the motto “inspiring smiles every day.” Now I only work for myself and I enjoy doodling every day.

Dan: Well, then tell me what are your tools of the trade? What software and hardware do you find essential for your art as well as your business?

Jen: For me I constantly play with new techniques and little gadgets, however I have a definite set of software I use daily: I use an Apple MacBook Pro – I’ve always used a mac of some kind. I do own PC, but Macs are my first choice.

Adobe Photoshop for cartoony/hand drawn designs and Adobe Illustrator for more crisp style designs.

For my business I couldn’t live without the internet, I need constant internet access to not only monitor my business and my sales, but also to maintain my websites. Tools involved with this include ftp software and text editing software.

Occasionally I will hand draw on real paper (yes, I still have pencils and paper) and I will scan the work in, but this isn’t common these days — with the drawing tablet, I draw directly into photoshop and then color.

Dan: You use Print on Demand (POD) services. Do you use one or several? Are their shortcomings or advantages you’d noticed about one over the other?

Jen: I use several POD services for a number of reasons. Each service handles its own business model a little bit differently. Each has a different set up of their own marketing, shopping cart experience and product offering. I focus my business towards CafePress because I’ve been working with them the longest and understand how to make their system work for me… However I do use others to either test their systems or offer product types CP doesn’t currently offer. So far, I have found Cp to have the most positive benefits, not to mention I personally know staff that can help me solve any issues.

Other companies I use for different reasons…

Zazzle. I just started playing with because they offer real time personalization tools. I can offer my customers my own designs to personalize themselves. They also offer greeting cards with a location for my own brand/logo as well as printed content on the inside of the card — This is similar to GreetingCardUniverse.com, however GCU doesn’t offer the logo spot.

Printfection, I have found a little success with. They are much newer and smaller than CP, they don’t offer nearly as many non appreal products, but they do offer a huge variety of colors of t-shirts and they are located right here in Colorado. I’ve spoken when them and love their eagerness to grow and improve. Also, I really like the idea of giving a little love to the local guys.

I’ve tried Imagekind, but feel my current design style does not lend itself to the poster/print exclusive arena… I do have plans to expand in that area, however.

Dan: What is your strongest method for exposing shoppers to your online stores? Paid advertising, Search Engine Optimization, viral?

Jen: Rain dances and praying to the fairy garden gods. Marketing is not a strength of mine. I really struggle with it and usually when I do do something that is successful, I am not sure what I did, how I did it or if it was even me. For me, the only thing I have done that I am sure is my own effort and skill is my eagerness to meet people and show them what I do. I let my business card show a little of my style and it usually sparks a conversation which I happily answer any questions about what I do. I also really strive for word of mouth advertising. I always try to leave enough of an impression that not only will people remember me, but pass my name or site or something from me along to others.

Dan: What are your biggest challenges in running an online, POD-oriented business?

Jen: Marketing, exposure.. Just letting people know I am here. I think this is true with any online business as much as it is for real world retail businesses. For me, I struggle with where to go and how to tell people. Again, I often let my images speak for me and hope that those that like them share them with others.

Dan: Do you have any formal training or education in art or as a business woman?

Jen: I have absolutely no formal business training.. Unless “marketing/advertising 101″ counts. In that case, that is my official business training. I’ve been drawing and creating since birth… Also. I do have an associates degree in graphic design… I have to laugh, it took me 6 years for that 2 year degree. I stopped to work and started up… A few times, but had to prove to myself I could finish it… so finally I did.

I have to say, however, I believe schooling helps only in teaching tools and building confidence. As far as any skills needs for the design world… school doesn’t offer much. A portfolio might get someone in the door to a job, but everything we need for that job we learn in practical uses.

Dan: Did you get any guidance or help along the way in establishing your particular business? Or, did you have to pave the way on your own?

Jen: I could say I paved the way all alone, but then I would be leaving a lot of fantastic people out of that spotlight. I’ve made quite a few friends along the way for the business I am currently in. Every one of those friends has taught me something.. Shown me some direction or given me a slight nudge somewhere. Of all the advice and info and trade “secrets” I have learned from others, for me its the encouragement and side by side motivation that has made the most difference. Peer-to-peer support to some extent. I really feel like anyone can jump in, read how-to info and try something out.. But without that little cheering squad in the background, it’s really difficult to stick it out and press forward. So if I may, I send out a THANK YOU! To everyone who’s touched my life during this big adventure.

Dan: Do you have a close relationship with customers, considering the degree of POD fulfillment by third-party companies? Or, do you maintain relative distance from day in, day out customer interaction?

Jen: I have very little contact with customers. I do offer contact information on my website, but rarely hear from anyone. I also offer a subscription to a newsletter that is tied into my blog.. But this is a very non personal form of communication. When I do receive contact from customers or site visitors I try to make sure they understand I am here any time they need me.

Dan: Regarding this, is that by choice or is it simply part and parcel of this type of business?

Jen: Both. I do not offer phone numbers because I’m not a real store with real business hours. The type of business allows me this freedom of time yet I would like the option to thank customers after purchasing — but due to the POD shopping cart, I am unable. I’m still looking for ways around this without becoming a 3rd party shipper of my own products.

Dan: Are there inherent challenges or hurdles you struggle with in your business? Especially with online and POD?

Jen: Yes, online sales always include some sort of anonymity, add in the 3rd party production of POD, versus my printing and shipping myself, it then becomes impossible for me to conduct any follow up customer service on my own behalf. I think this is an enormous issue when one stops to think of business growth. Return customers and referred customers, in my opinion, should be the majority of opens business and results in a strong growth.

The answer to this, from my view, would be to become my own shipper, order processor, customer service department, etc. at which point I would then be spending all my time with the business management and no time with the creation. There’s a no win type situation here… So for me, its a
compromise I am happy to deal with for now… I am able to bring to the public my work and sell it at reasonable prices while in control of what is offered, and for the most part, how it is offered. In return I give up the opportunity to meet my customers who are buying what I am offering. It’s not ideal but it’s much better than not offering anything.

Dan: Any special benefits to your business, or being online in a POD-driven business, that make your life easier?

Jen: I don’t HAVE to do much of any of the business side besides being the artist creating and then shouting out “here I am”. I do not handle returns or production or product inventory or billing and taxes. I love that… Who likes that side of business?

Dan: Working from home… are there more challenges or more freedoms? What are they?

Jen: More freedoms for sure. I’ll never be one to work in an office for long. For me the biggest challenge of working from home is walking away. I rarely have a day I don’t sit and work a little. This is also a benefit.. Any time I have an idea or what to check something or change something, it’s all right here. I’ve been working from home for about 10 years and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am able to be here to talk with my kids… I’m here when they get home from school and I can be here when they need me. On the down side, they’ve learned early on that mom works a lot… but I think, at least they see me and know working doesn’t’ have to be a grumpy thing.

Dan: Working from a home office… what positive or negative surprises did you encounter that the typical “go to work” person might be surprised to hear about?

Jen: I don’t even know, I’ve worked from home for so long. Maybe, that instead of a lunch break I take “make banana bread” breaks and then I get to eat it in the middle of my work day. We also have sit and work with mom days where I might be drawing/working while my kids sit and draw their own masterpieces next to me.

A negative surprise… I had someone call my home number, after I told them I work from home and it was my home number they were calling, and they were irritated I didn’t answer my phone during the business hours that day… I wasn’t home.

Dan: What are some of the things you enjoy most about your business?

Jen: I love that I can wake up every day and create.. I can create what inspires me, what comes to mind. If I want to get up and make a bowl of smiley ice cream, that’s what I do and it makes me happy. More importantly I love hearing from site visitors, customers and friends that my art makes them smile… that’s the goal.

Dan: The penguin. Who is he? Where did he come from? Is it, indeed, a “he?” Tell me everything about that little character. He seems to play a large role in what you do.

Jen: [quoting]
“Born from the combination of quirky and cute mixed with an abundance of late night computer time, the penguin is a critter with a lot of character.

The Penguin is a continually growing collection of characters ranging from “Fishing Penguin” to “Bride Penguin” – a penguin personality for everyone.

The Penguin represents a variety of things to a variety of people, but in a nutshell… whatever or whomever you want the penguin to be.

WHAT IS THE PENGUIN?

The Penguin is any gender.
The Penguin has no specific ethnicity nor racial ties.
The Penguin is who you think it should be.
The Penguin is what you love and what you love to do.”

I can’t tell you EVERYTHING… He too is still evolving. I say “he” yet some versions are she.. He plays a major role because he seems to be the most recognizable to everything and I don’t love my version of the monkey as much yet… not to mention the cow doesn’t wear clothes.

Drawn in illustrator, my approach was the same type of character, in a looser style. The penguin was created because I didn’t have one yet in my animals shop but originally looked like this.

Then this.

…and then. I prefer this egg shaped body because it’s quirky and fun to draw around… and his expression still makes me laugh.

Dan: You have a clever and strong marketing approach with the penguin – including photos of him/her traveling around the world. Was this a novelty that became a brilliant idea or did you set out to create this marketing move?

Jen: Both I think. A year or so ago I had an entire elaborate plan to introduce and make aware to the world, my penguin character. The original plan was a series of websites that merged into each other and only relied on the cartoon version. The plan never really evolved – I became pregnant with my 3rd child and didn’t want to be near a computer for months – I moved on to other things – clay figurines of the penguin, among other things.

Long story short, I ended up creating this little plushie penguin as an item to sell on etsy, but before I got that far, I went to a convention, took my sample penguin to show a friend (just for fun) and found myself taking pictures of people as I met them… turned into a great ice breaker and a fun game. It was so much fun I kept the idea going. Little known fact: I started the website for this traveling penguin while I was at the convention!

Dan: As a successful business woman and entrepreneur, what philosophies have you settled on that you feel make you successful? Have your philosophies changed since you began to where you are now?

Jen: I’ve always been a “go with the flow” kind of gal. I think this adaptability is the key to my own success in everything I do. I don’t fight how life happens. I do, however fight for what I want to happen. Sounds contradictory, but really… I set an end goal but I don’t put the plan/path to get there in concrete. Sometimes the path changes so much the end goal does too.. But I’m always striving for something. I change techniques or ideas or approaches bases on what I learn or how life moves along. Foremost I’ve always believed that you really do have to love what you do – you spend enough time in your life working, it better be something you love.

To add to that, just this year, santa put a fridge magnet in my stocking that sits on my fridge right now. It says “whatever you are, be a good one”. Hear, hear, I say!

Dan: Alright then… words of wisdom to others… what essential things would you like others to take with them, those who might be wanting to work from home, develop an online business (possibly using POD services) that would carry them through the challenges and hurdles? What were your most important lessons learned?

Jen: Believe in yourself. Your worst enemy, your worst critique and your worst competitor is yourself… so be good to yourself and you will get through. I also recommend using a little creativity in what it is you choose to do. If you want to work from home, you can – be creative in how you approach it. This doesn’t mean you have to be an artist or even a doodler. It means think outside of the box just enough to make your business different… unique… something others will remember beyond all the others out there.

As far as challenges, I don’t think there is one single set of challenges, but I do think that if you surround yourself with people that support you and resources that can help you, you can make it through any challenge. Don’t try to do everything all by yourself all the time. Known when to ask
for help and know when to let others help. This is a hard one for me as well.

Most importantly, know when you need to take a break and allow yourself to do so.

As far as my most important lessons… I’m still learning and I learned that pretty early on, but I still have to remind myself regularly.

Dan: Jen, I’d like to thank you immensely for the time you’ve taken to discuss what you do. Any final, parting thoughts?

Jen: Thank you again! Having to stop and really think about how I’ve gotten to where I am or what roads I’ve taken along the way is something I hadn’t done until now. I appreciate your asking and have thoroughly enjoyed this!

Just remember: love what you do and eventually what you do will turn around and love you right back.

Interview Copyright © 2008 by Daniel D. Mowry. All rights reserved.
May not be reproduced without permission.
Some material reproduced by permission of copyright owners.
All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

This is a little something I wrote up for shopkeepers at Cafepress.com – a service whose community I’ve been a moderator at for several years. However, this can apply to just about any retailer – particularly those of us who use 3rd-party POD/fulfillment companies. You might see this floating around in several marketing and regional sales magazines – it should include my reprint rights statement. Essentially, it’s about breaking down the logistics of what is a tangent off the famous “Nigerian” or “419″ scam. This one, however, is tailored to scamming sales people with, what appears to be, an attempt to purchase like a customer or an official offering a prize/reward that eventually requires a fee or payment be made to collect.

I’ve updated this to account for some changes in the times (most notably new pick-up lines and sob-stories that have become popular twists in the last year, or so). However, in general, the information is the same even if the flavor changes a little.

So, you got an EMail from someone wanting to order from your online store …a really big order. If it’s legitimate you will make more commission from this one sale than you’ve ever made since you opened your account, huh?

Problem is, you don’t exactly know why they didn’t just order from your store but, rather, they decided to contact you directly, right? Or, maybe the person explained they want to purchase in bulk, or they don’t trust international payment systems, they claim there is a problem with your shopping cart system… correct?

Well, your gut instinct is probably correct. It’s the start of an attempt to scam you.

Now, not every one will be bogus. But, online merchants across the board have reported for years that most of these scenarios are fraudulent. It’s best to play it safe.

You might be wondering exactly how this scam could play out – and how someone could possibly make money off of it?

Often, people’s first reactions are to think it centers around an attempt to get your credit card number or the use of a fraudulent (or stolen) card number. This isn’t likely the case. Nowhere along the way would the sale require you to divulge your credit card information for them to make a purchase… so, that’s not it. Trying to use a bogus credit card would likely get denied by the transaction process and you’d know not to proceed with the sale (providing you have your own merchant account to accept cards). Your POD service would certainly catch it if it went through them directly.

Besides… what is a criminal mastermind going to do with 100 medium tshirts with a picture of a puppy on them??

It’s not about the products. It’s not about your credit card number.

…it’s about turning fake money into real money using you.

Here’s how the scenario would play out if you foolishly took part:

You’d respond to them via EMail (rarely a good idea – now they at least know they’ve reached an active Email account) and you agree to take their money order for 100 medium tshirts. You agreed on a fair price already – let’s say $1,600. They thank you for your honesty and let you know payment is on the way.

In a few weeks you receive payment via money order in the mail and an address of where to send the shirts. (You don’t really think this address is legit… do you?)

Either way, you notice the money order is actually for $2,100! Being the good business person you contact them and let them know they sent you too much. (Could they have wanted more shirts than originally thought?).

They apologize and tell you that their secretary must have incorrectly made it for $500 more than needed. They ask, if you’d be so kind, please send the shirts and just mail them another money order for the overage. Heck, they’d even accept a personal or company check from you because they can clearly see you’re an honest person. They apologize profusely and seem embarrassed by their mistake.

[This is where the situation takes the wrong turn]

You deposit their $2,100 money order in your bank, fill out another money order (or check) to return the excess to your customer and then dash home to order all those shirts and have them sent to the address he gave you. (You’re fighting off the urge to yell “Whoohoo!” and order that new 30″ flatscreen monitor you’ve been wanting).

[A few weeks pass]

You have seen the order ship from your POD account status reports. You sent a nice EMail thanking the customer and got a generous EMail back thanking you in return. It’s been a great experience and you pat yourself on the back thinking you were smart and never fell for those obvious “Nigerian scams” asking for your credit card number.

Well, the days of those scams have been over for some time now… they’ve been replaced with the scam you just got hit with.

Don’t believe me? Then why do you think your bank just phoned you telling you that the $2,100 money order was a fake and that you owe them that entire amount back?! (Yes, you do… oh, yes, you do).

You see, the whole scam was to get you to do two things:
1. Step outside of your processor’s highly effective system of protecting shop owners from fraud.
2. Get you to take $2,100 in counterfeit money order and turn it into $500 of real money order or check.

…the tshirts are just the smokescreen designed to take advantage of a naive shop owner anxious for their first, big sale.

Money orders ARE NOT – NOT – NOT as good as cash. They never have been. They are pieces of paper than can be forged. Banks always process and verify money orders, cashiers, checks, and the like. Banks will tell you it can take “x” amount of weeks to do so, in some cases.

Your $500 money order, however, was real – and by the time your bank alerted you to a problem – your money order was processed and you are out the $500 (real money order) plus the $2,100 (bogus) …and whatever you legitimately spent with your Print on Demand fulfillment service to purchase those darn shirts in the first place.

GOLDEN RULES:

1. Never go outside your fulfillment company’s system of purchase and payment. It’s there for your protection!
2. Don’t let excitement cloud your judgment by seeing a big sale come your way. The old adage is still just as meaningful now as ever… If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

VARIATIONS ON A THEME:

1. PayPal can sometimes be the mechanism for how the scammer asks for that excess money to be returned. It’s no big deal to them to close down an account after they grab the money. By the time PayPal locks the account down or begins a paper trail it’s in another country where these people are often left untouched by the law. PayPal makes it very easy to be the recipient of money. This means the scammer has a relatively easy role to play compared to you… as you are already set up properly with PayPal.

2. The stories… oh boy, the stories. To get a shopowner or retailer off guard you might get a story about orphans, church groups, family reunions, wholesalers, fashion boutique stores, etc. It’s the stories that envelope these scams and help ease apprehensions and any reservations you might have. I mean, who would delay those orphans getting their 100 medium tshirts?

3. They start off telling you they’d like to use their credit card… but don’t relax, yet. This opening line is becoming popular in 2008 because of what I’ve outlined previously… the scammers are getting hip to warnings about Paypal, money orders, etc.

There are two things to look out for: A) What begins as an assurance a credit card is involved will eventually change to an explanation that a different payment needs to be used (silly secretary lost the company credit card… would money order be okay?) or B) It’s an attempt to bang-away at a stolen credit card number after all. Again, this isn’t as likely because once a stolen credit card is validated the culprits tend to burn through purchases very, very fast before it gets canceled and lengthy correspondence to negotiate for tshirts in bulk is hardly the way to do that.

Most likely, you’ll find the circumstances get changed and that the assurance of it being a purchase on credit card was just an initial ruse to get their foot in your door.

4. Variations can be abundant. Essentially, it’s about turning bad money into good money and you need to think ahead to that moment to see if you are being set up for a fall. The red-flag doesn’t always show up immediately. It happens after you’ve started the process. That’s part of why it’s so hard to avoid being scammed once you have your hopes up and momentum going.

5. We still see a lot of scams centered around winnings, prizes, inheritance, millions in bank transfers in war-torn Countries, etc. that still try to take advantage of a process… a process of giving you a little money or at least a little hope for greater returns. You can be sure it’s not genuine money being dangled in front of you but it works you through the stages of enticing you with greater goods/riches/rewards but will require you to pay a fee. It’s another one of those draws that involve tempting you with bogus money in an attempt to get you to introduce real money – the point at which you’ve been ripped off.

NOT EVERYTHING IS A SCAM.

Of course, not every contact is bogus. Wholesalers might well contact you. People wanting bulk-discounts will ask you what you charge. It’s your responsibility to sift through what’s real and what’s not. Ask the opinion of your card processing service or bank representative if you are unsure. There are ways to conduct business safely – without putting the risk on you – and without making you miss the genuine sales opportunities. I hope this explanation gives you one more line of defense in protecting yourself.

I was having a conversation with one of my peers the other day. We were talking about his advertising budget and wanting to make certain he was spending money wisely… best publications, best type of ads, most bang-for-the-buck duration, etc.

It brought up the subject of keying and tracking – the process of proving the effectiveness of one promotion (or sales mechanism) over the other. Or, alternatively, validating the effectiveness of one. This is something that everyone from tshirt sellers to tractor wholesalers should be doing.

Here’s the routine most business people (online or offline) follow:

-They decide to start advertising. They want to advertise their business or maybe just a product, service, or information. Either way they decide it’s time to spend money and advertise.

-They give a little thought to what it is they want to advertise, pick the place (a magazine, newspaper, website, ad-word-type service, etc.) and then sign up.

-They chose whatever they can afford that seems reasonable (an arbitrary term, by the way) for what they get ($20 for 10 days, 3000 impressions for $100, six column inches for a weekend @ $250, and so on).

….then they let it run its course and decide (again – arbitrarily) if it was worth it.

That’s not the way to advertise. It’s not the way to spend your hard-earned money on advertising.

In many cases a more effective way is to start small, do your research, validate and so on. Then Key & Track.

Now, a side note about validating: validating is a big subject but here’s some things go consider. For example, an classified ad in a newspaper has some things to check first. Newspapers always claim numbers for how many people you’ll reach with an ad. Frankly, in my experience, you can usually cut those numbers in half because they often count “papers printed” and call that a readership. That gives a false sense of value because they might print 200,000 papers a day but 30% of those remain unsold in at news stands (they line bird cages the next day), not everyone who subscribes to a paper reads the classifieds – some just want news, sports, living, etc. to read. So, when you’re deciding if $300 for a classified ad over the weekend to reach 200,000 people is worth it? …factor in you’ll probably be reaching far, far fewer people for that money.

This example is the point, which can hold true, for many mediums… online and offline medium. So, first things first – do your homework and make sure you know what/where/how your money is going for in an ad.

Okay, the keying and tracking is actually quite simple.

The easiest way to explain it is with an example. Remember watching commercials on TV or hearing ads on radio that direct you to “Ask for department “J” when calling?” Or, email “KevinThompsons@….?” Those were keyed and tracked ads (aka Kevin Thompson = KT = Keyed & Tracked). The advertisers are wanting to see how many emails ol’ Kevin got because they know that only radio stations in Las Vegas, Nevada ran ads with the email for Kevin. Ads on the radio on Denver, Colorado directed prospects to phone and ask for Daisy Conners, instead.

…it’s all a more sophisticated version of “where did you hear about us?”

It’s also effective to use two, identical promotions (say: the same banner ads on website “A” and more on website “B” and you want to see whether A or B was a better place to have your banners on). So, you create a unique link-to for the one website and another link-to for the other… but leave everything else about the banner the same… same duration, same graphic, same text, same launch date, etc. You want to see how many links the one site gives you over the other. If you have Statcounter or some similar tracking service in place you’ll be able to validate this even better.

…it’s all about seeing where your biggest bang-for-the-buck comes from – all things being equal.

For some, this is old news or a variation on what they already do. For others, this might be the first time you’ve thought about it. It can apply to print advertising as well as online, obviously. Newspaper, Google AdSense, Banner, Exchanges, etc. It’s all the same end-goal.

Old schoolers have some rules about keying and tracking – the least of which is all factors need to be identical except the one, internal device you use to distinguish one ad from the other. If website “A” generates more email inquiries to “Alan’s” email than does website “B” to “Bob’s” email… you have the beginnings of a keyed and trackable ad. You can now begin to test the effectiveness of those websites and how much one is worth spending your money on over the other. Remember, too, on the internet traffic is great – but sales often are more important. So, test how much money you make from A-versus-B not just traffic.

I key and track ads on small scale frequently for headlines and general content. I want to make sure that a print ad, a banner graphic, a text-only website ad, are the best they can be so I often run two, nearly identical versions on the same website and see which one brings me the best results. Once I tweak and do this routine a couple times I can be pretty confident I’ve got the best version I can. It’s at that point I can feel confident paying for more expensive, longer duration runs on larger websites. The last thing one wants to do is pay $500 for a graphical ad on BoingBoing (for example) and have it be the first time you’ve ever run that promotion. No, when you pay good money for a major ad on a major online service you want to know that it’s proven itself on other, smaller service – and it’s the best version of that ad you can craft. Keying and tracking help you do this with confidence.

If you found this little bit of information useful, please email “Bob Fisher” in department B. Thanks.

Let me tell you a little story – a fable from a long time ago in another land – marketing land…

Okay, there once was a product available for sale. It was a nice product – I still personally purchase them for my own self years later. This was a squishy, lightweight, pillow-sized product for consumer home-use. We’ll call it “the product.”

The product was very well marketed and very well received by consumers. It fit a health-need. Health and fitness are great markets to get into. They can be quite competitive but they can also be filled with a lot of schlocky products. This, thankfully, was not a schlocky product.

So, this product was so great that it was decided to give it awesome packaging that would survive shipping as well as stack nicely on the shelves at department and megamart-type stores. This product was also blessed with an equally awesome guarantee – basically stating that if you didn’t like it for any reason just send it or take it back and you’ll get all your money back. The time limit was generous, the requirements were practically non-existent (meaning that if you even just hated the color and wanted to return it – that was fine), and it was a great guarantee told customers they clearly were going to like what they got.

The rub, though, was that, although returns were few (much less than projected and significantly less than industry standards for this type of product) it was still the goal to tackle the issue of returns with the goal of making them non-existent. Of course, there will always be returns of any product but the thinking was to do everything possible to make it so the customer would have no desire to return it without tampering with that excellent, consumer-favoring money back guarantee in any way, shape or form. That guarantee to the customer was written in stone and as good as gold. The customers had to love the product and be willing to keep it.

So, the subject of returns came up at a meeting (where Reuben sandwiches and ginger ale were served for lunch). “How do we reduce the already low-rate of returns but not mess with customer confidence or the guarantee?” This was a question asked by a man wearing a navy blue suit and obligatory red power-tie – the extra wide kind, not those sissified narrow ties. This was a man who was king of all the land and his word was law and his questions demanded answers – the good kind, not those pansy answers marketing folks usually give.

The subject of reducing returns was discussed around the great, round table in the room of conferences amidst the feast of Reuben sandwiches for nearly an hour. It was a discussion that ranged from the usual ideas for reducing returns (ideas which were discarded since it was determined not to tamper with the sacred guarantee), to the absurd to, eventually, one very clever idea.

“Change the packaging.”

Yes. Change the packaging.

“What do you mean – change the packaging?” was a question asked between sips of ginger ale.

Well, since it was established, through research, that customers were overwhelmingly satisfied with the product and it was only a tiny fraction that returned it due to it not solving their health problem – but were still satisfied with the product in general – why not simply make it a little harder to return it?

I know. It seems a little sneaky but believe me, far sneakier things go on in market caves every day all over this Country. This was actually a rather thoughtful solution to a problem: still allow the money-back guarantee to be as strong as ever but make so that only people who really were compelled to return the product would do so – make it not quite so convenient to return but not in an avaricious way.

The thing was – all existing returns were showing the product coming back in the original packaging – that sturdy, folded lid box. The box was so good, so easy to simply slide the product back in and put a label on it that it was a bit too easy to return.

The solution was to ship this product in a shrunk, compressed, plastic, heat-sealed sleeve that had to physically be torn apart to release the product.

As is often the case in sales – there’s money to be made from the sale of a product, cutting the costs to produce that product, reducing costs of shipping or deployment, but there’s also money to be gained by reducing returns.

The benefit to this solution was obvious – again, it kept the very important guarantee intact, it reduced weight in shipping (and the product survived shipping fine in the new packaging within larger palette boxes), and customer satisfaction surveys indicated the same, high level of overall satisfaction and recommendation.

It was a win/win situation and one that reminds me often to think outside the box, as it were, in finding solutions to problems.

By the way – I hate Reuben sandwiches. Sauerkraut is awful stuff – and that’s coming from someone with a German family. Who ever thought of putting that in a sandwich was nuts.

Well, let me tell you a few things that my eyes were opened to when I began selling tees online and offline in what would eventually become a multi-faceted and lucrative business.

Whether it be historically important to point out that the humble tshirt may have begun as a tunic in ancient Rome or Egypt or that it really became modern during World War I as a government-issued garment. the tshirt, in some form or another, has been with us for a long time.

Although the military use of tshirts spread throughout other branches of the services in different countries, the cultural impact that I most appreciate is when it began to be seen as a style unto itself in the 1950′s cinema.

Marlon Brando wore a tshirt with authority as Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film “A Streetcar Named Desire.” It was iconic. Later, in 1955 we saw the original rebel James Dean wear the classic white tee in “Rebel Without A Cause.”It didn’t take long for it to catch on. Even the great Elvis Presley was wearing this inner garment on the outside as he drove the ladies wild.

The humble, utilitarian tshirt was now a symbol with style.

In 1959 something important happened – the tshirt became a source of advertising. Actress Jane Seberg wore one in a film called “Breathless” in which the words “Herald Tribune” were seen. This popular English-language newspaper from Paris knew the power of such a marketing move in cinema. Now, in current times, product-placement is a huge industry in itself for advertisers.

It wasn’t long after this that company logos, whimsical slogans, pearls of wisdom, art, political statements, or just plain humor was right at home on the blank canvas which was the tshirt as much as it was in a newspaper or a billboard.

It’s also safe to say that tshirts can often be a barometer of culture and society as much as a statement from the individual wearing it. They’re great also for being the medium for people to express things that they may not otherwise say directly but are happy to have it seen on the shirt they wear in public.

The tshirt has, and continues to be, useful as well as fashionable for people of any age and any background, in some form or another. It’s impressive as to how much of even our own culture can trace back entertainment as well as industrial useage to include tshirts in some noticeable role.

In a commissioned study conducted by the Jerzees company (a major manufacturer of fashion tshirts and other apparel) it was noted that:

The greatest reason people wear a tshirt is for comfort. It’s often regarded as the most comfortable article of clothing we own.

Nearly 80% of tshirt owners are between the ages of 18-24 years old.

~Dan Mowry
Owner/operator of the former TheTShirtZone now the Tornado Republic and the blipfish himself.

By accident or design, selling T-shirts is big business on Web

Wednesday, May 04, 2005
By Pui-Wing Tam, The Wall Street Journal

Dan Mowry thought he knew just how to turn his family entertainment newsletter into a successful online business.

Two years ago, he designed an attractive site and loaded it up with features to entice readers and advertisers: electronic crossword puzzles, a history quiz and cartoons. Almost as an afterthought, he designed a T-shirt with his company’s logo, a circus ringmaster holding a megaphone.

Today the online and print newsletters have flopped. But the shirts are pulling in up to $3,000 per month, as Mr. Mowry joins the growing ranks of entrepreneurs profiting from an improbable but lucrative Web business model: selling T-shirts.

All over the Web, bloggers, artists and entrepreneurs are unexpectedly finding that T-shirts are more reliable moneymakers than the original ideas that brought them to the Internet.

CollegeHumor.com, a site offering jokes and pictures from college campuses nationwide, sells T-shirts that say “My other shirt has its collar up,” “What Would Ashton Do,” and dozens of others. Its parent company, Connected Ventures LLC, says it takes in roughly $200,000 in monthly revenue from the shirts, about half of its total income. “A year from now things could be very different, but for now, T-shirts are a great way to monetize the Internet,” says Josh Abramson, one of the site’s founders.

It turns out the T-shirt is a perfect fit for online commerce. It captures the Web’s renegade allure and allows surfers to show off their virtual journeys. Easy to make and deliver, T-shirts often cost $15 or less online.

More than 1,500 Web sites now sell T-shirts, says Rodney Blackwell, a Sacramento, Calif., entrepreneur who runs several Web sites. Mr. Blackwell, who began cataloguing the number of sites offering T-shirts in early 2004 for one of his Web properties, tracked just 500 such sites last year before the market exploded.

“So many people wanted their T-shirt sites listed on my page that I had to turn people away and institute a listing fee of $19.95,” says Mr. Blackwell. He says he now adds 60 sites every month to his list, which is displayed on T-shirtcountdown.com, where visitors can vote for the most popular shirt.

Recently, one of Mr. Blackwell’s own creations — a T-shirt declaring “Can’t sleep, clowns will eat me … ” — ranked No. 5 on that list. The shirt is available on Mr. Blackwell’s ihateclowns.com, an elaborate site whose name accurately describes its philosophy. The nine-year-old site covers its expenses by selling up to 90 T-shirts per month for $15 per shirt, Mr. Blackwell says.

John Wooden of Brooklyn, N.Y., runs a parody of the official White House site on whitehouse.org, and pays for it by selling anti-Bush T-shirts with messages like “Proud Blue Stater.” He says he covers all the costs of running the site by selling tees and lives off the rest of the earnings, which total several thousand dollars per month. “It’s not a bad living,” says Mr. Wooden, who declined to provide specific revenue figures.

It’s not hard to make money on T-shirts. Mr. Mowry, the accidental T-shirt merchant, often gets his shirts from CafePress.com, a San Leandro, Calif., company that prints designs on shirts and other products and even ships them directly to a Web site’s customers.

CafePress charges a vendor like Mr. Mowry a base price of $8.99 for a T-shirt with a customized logo printed on it. Mr. Mowry then charges $19 or more for the finished product. That leaves him $10 per shirt in pretax income. Using a local apparel printer, which charges him only $5 for a basic T-shirt with printing, Mr. Mowry’s profit margins can be as high as $14 a shirt.

Mr. Mowry’s best-selling T-shirts today include one with the message “Shiny Objects Distract Me,” written in colorful fonts on the front. Another is rubber-stamped with the words “Does Not Play Well With Others.” Mr. Mowry has since sold off his newsletter and last year he launched a site that sells T-shirts, dubbed thetshirtzone.com.

Mary Ogle, an Ojai, Calif., oil painter, created a site in 2001 to sell her art prints at $150 each. But she sold no more than two prints a month. Two years later, she added a line of T-shirts and various tchotchkes featuring blue bears, pink cranes, mother hens and other images from her artworks. Sales took off and today she says she sells several hundred tees per month, taking in up to $800 in revenue.

Nick Bayne, 25 years old, an entertainment producer in New York, began buying T-shirts on the Internet last year, after coming across the CollegeHumor site that sold tees with clever puns and cartoons. In the past six months, Mr. Bayne says, he has bought six shirts online, for $18 apiece, and plans to buy more to add to his collection of 100.

Among his favorites: A shirt featuring a lead character of the movie “Napoleon Dynamite” that he says he could only find on the Web. Another shirt shows a picture of Che Guevara and says: “I have no idea who this is.”

“It’s a guilty pleasure,” Mr. Bayne says. “There’s a point where my girlfriend will tell me I’ll have to grow up, but until then, one definitely can’t have too many funny T-shirts.”

CollegeHumor.com asks visitors of its site for T-shirt ideas and receives an average of two suggestions a day. “The majority of them are awful,” says Mr. Abramson, adding that many of the submissions are far too crass.

To generate T-shirts with smarter messages, Mr. Abramson and three business partners look for puns and draw inspiration from television shows. Recent results include one that declares “Your Retarded” and another with a picture of a man with bear’s arms and the message “Right to Bear Arms.”

Reprinted with permission.
Original Wall Street Journal article available online here.

What is it?

Basically, it’s not what it is that’s as important as why you need one (meaning you need one because there’s important stuff you ought to be doing!).

As you might have guessed, it has something to do with marketing you do throughout a year. However, we’re not talking about the plain, vanilla sale most retailers have a couple times a year (after Christmas or some other shopping spike) to sell-off leftover stuff – we’re talking about carefully calculated and planned marketing that can be predicted a year (or more) out.

This isn’t just about physical retail either – it applies to online merchants who may or may not even have inventory (applies to print-on-demand equally as much).

A sale is a sale. You don’t have to always have a reason but boring stores have boring sales and boring sales happen in boring stores. Boring results usually follow. It’s fine to put products on sale because it’s Spring, or in honor of your business’ five-year mark – that’s fine – go for it.

However, a promotional calendar is more than a list of upcoming sales – it’s a coordinated, planned series of steps that happen weeks or months prior to a date landing. You could be prepping for a calendar date for Summer while it’s snowing outside during Winter. It’s about planning and preparation – and all that goes into it.

Think about one item on a Calendar we can all relate to: The 4th Quarter Christmas shopping season (or, as my politically incorrect peers call it “Holiday Festivus Purchasing Period”). No matter what you call it – there is a holiday or two that bring out, what is likely to be, your largest spike in sales during that time that will rival any other time of year – and it’s worth getting ready for.

The “sale” approach (which we’re not talking about) would be to simply put a sign up on your window or website saying “Holiday Sale! Everything Reduced” and then lower your prices. That’s a sale.

What we’re talking about is something to think about months ahead of time and could include any or all of the following (or more!):

* Holiday graphic makeover for online store designed and uploaded on set date.
* Holiday or seasonal graphic banners need to be created.
* Price reductions calculated and planned for adjustment on a set date.
* Online (or physical) advertising purchased, bid on, again – all set to take place on a certain date.
* Online advertising keywords/ad words determined well in advance – don’t just throw the word “gift” into a search engine and call it marketing.
* Events related to the holiday – interviews, kiosks, seminars, parties, shows, exhibits, press releases, community-driven opportunities, etc. All these things have to be planned to hit in time to not only gain momentum and target the shopping audience but also so that they don’t conflict with one-another or better yet… build upon the momentum of the last event.
* Co-venture arrangements (deals you strike with another company or individual that are mutually beneficial)… gotta’ plan these things to work on schedule, too.

It does no good to wait until November to hire a graphic artist to redo your online storefront for that holiday-theme when the artist is probably booked solid until next year.

It does no good to bid on Google ad words too late to take advantage of a solid run for seasonal/holiday search terms.

It will also do no good to miss community sales, causes, or other events that might afford you the opportunity to sell a little (or at least drum up some publicity) if you didn’t get an entry form turned-in on time or don’t have enough inventory/stock to bring with you to sell because you did it at the last minute.

It’s all about the planning.

I have this giant dry-erase board in my office. I brainstorm calendar events 3-6 months out ahead of time (although I have major, yearly points worked out too – but those are always “must do” items… such as Christmas). I’ll look at my standard, retail calendar (I’ll post that below) and plot backward all the steps any given idea for a promotion would require and then draft a plan of real, individual steps to take toward getting there. I’ll scribble in dates, in reverse, for ad placement and how much time a newspaper or magazine needs and any deadlines involved. I’ll plot backward any timeline I need to create graphics or art for an ad or promotion. I’ll block out vacation time or family events and then backtrack accordingly the time I need to allot myself a realistic chance of getting things done for that date.

It’s not unusual for me, like I mentioned, to have snow on the ground outside but I’ll be planning a Spring or Summer sale complete with website redesign, promotional graphic banners, art, product designs, product assortment, you name it… all ready for warm, US weather before the flowers even begin to bloom.

When you’re in a global market you also need to factor in that cold and hot seasons are different around the globe. Do you want to promote year-round or not? Do you want to reflect local seasons but still leave global shopping available (eg. Keeping tank tops and swimsuits available even in December for our Australian shoppers?).

Either way, ads take time to create, purchase, place, and deadlines exist. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with you have multiple things going on such as a Spring sale promotion combined with a local Spring exhibition at the local event arena where you want to have a sales booth, and then a month later a Summertime fair kiosk where you’ll need local, Summer products to sell which need to be ordered and stocked well ahead of time. A marketing calendar is invaluable because it will have a few dates on it for the holiday/event… but it’ll have far more dates on it that reflect the planning and sequence of events you need to do to get there.

A good calendar can help you focus, plan, set goals, keep on task, stay on target and help avoid dropping the ball when you are juggling several at once.

Now that I’ve bean the concept into your head five ways from Sunday, here’s a good, starter list to help you forecast notable, retail points in a year:

January

* Super Bowl
* New Years Eve
* New Year (and any resolution excuse for a promo!)
* Martin Luther King
* Back to School
* Bank Holiday (UK)

February

* Ground Hog Day
* Mardi Gras
* President’s Day
* Valentine’s Day
* Daytona 500
* February Sweeps for Television
* Black History Month

March

* St. Patrick’s Day
* Passover
* Easter
* First Day of Spring
* March Madness
* Academy Awards

April

* Baseball Opening Day
* Good Friday
* April Fool’s Day
* Taxes (spend those returns!)
* Earth Day
* PGA Master’s Golf
* Prom

May

* Cinco de Mayo
* Mother’s Day
* Victoria Day (Canada)
* Memorial Day
* Spring Bank Holiday (UK)
* Kentucky Derby
* Season Finales for Television
* Teacher Appreciation Week

June

* Father’s Day
* Flag Day
* School Graduations / Summer Vacation
* First Day of Summer
* U.S. Golf Open
* Wimbledon

July

* Canada Day
* Independence Day
* Summer Fun

August

* Back to School
* Tax-Free Sales Events
* End of Summer

September

* Labor Day
* NFL Opens
* First Day of Fall

October

* Columbus Day
* World Series
* Thanksgiving Day (Canada)
* Red Ribbon Week
* National Boss Day
* National Book Month
* Halloween
* National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (US)

November

* Election Day
* Veteran’s Day
* Thanksgiving Day
* Black Friday (Busiest Shopping Day)
* November Sweeps for Television
* Winter Sports

December

* First Day of Winter
* Christmas
* Boxing Day
* New Year’s Eve

Lastly, never forget that your own business or community will likely have many, many great opportunities to mark a promotion on the calendar… grand opening, anniversary of opening, local parade or festival, musical group/band touring dates, weather-related, and so on. Sometimes, creating your own date of celebration can not only be fun and a great excuse for a promotion – it could take on a life of its own and become a yearly ritual and even recognized as something special online or offline.

No matter what though, you have to plan ahead to get all the pieces to fall into place when they need to be.

Here’s a glimpse of my side of the exchange we had (with her approval) – I hope you find it valuable.

Good Morning,

Well, it’s morning here in Tornado Alley. Thanks for contacting me with your questions, it’s good to hear from you.
First, congratulations on your success during the 4th Quarter – and generally consistent and respectable sales year-round! You must be very skilled, so I’ll glance over what you and I probably can agree are the basics – search engine optimization, dedicated domain, etc.

I would, however, be remiss if I didn’t preach my normal sermon about SEO being dynamic, evolving, and responsive. Search engine optimization can be something many of us are reluctant to “mess with” once we feel we’ve reached a good Google traffic level or page rank. I’d never suggest tampering with a proven formula but it is worth being aware that some subjects, themes, and keywords fall in and out of favor with Google just as subjects change in business, pop-culture, and so on. I’m not suggesting that a person replace all their keywords with “Britney Spears” or “Lindsay Lohan” because, although they are highly searched terms recently, they’re not likely targeted words appropriate for your business. Again, not to recommend anyone change a successful keyword lineup, it is important to *know* if keywords are working well or not – rather than just assuming they are. So, methodically changing a single word or two, periodically, might demonstrate if it is having a positive affect on bringing targeted traffic to your site or CP store. One doesn’t want to go crazy and change all keywords – a shakeup like that is often negatively drastic and has similarly negative results with any search engine – not just the almighty Google.

At any rate, I do think there is value in validating keywords and meta tags (even with their decreasing value) to ensure they really are the best ones you can be using at this time. Next year, who knows? It’s possible that buzzwords, even in the industry can change. I remember when “virtual” or “e-[something]” were the buzzwords plastered all over the place. Thank goodness they’ve since fallen out of favor and we no longer see them quite so prevalently – and at least more correctly used nowadays. On a sidenote – I actually remember a spam email that talked about “virtual water” and a “virtual toaster.” I think we’ve had enough off all that, thank you very much! So, pay attention to what current, popular, trendy word-usage is because it might mean the same thing but if the vocabulary has changed in your demographic audience – keywords likely need to be updated (eg. “Hip” is making a comeback but its data is still a little on the slow, upswing – it’ll be a while until “hip” is a high-commodity search term. “Urban” is on the way out but is still holding solid in smaller, niche circles for the hardcore crowd.).

Okay, enough with Reverend Blip’s soapbox about keeping keywords fresh, current, targeted and most importantly – validated to prove they are worth the valuable real estate they occupy in html code. Just make sure you never rest on your laurels and assume old, tired keywords that once were good-enough, are still sufficient. You may need to give them some attention from time to time.

Whenever I’m asked a question that, at its core, is about going beyond Google… getting past a plateau – I think about something most people have little experience in and even less interest in: Press Releases.

Now, I know the subject of advertising was perhaps the next thing on your mind (or maybe the first thing?). I guess I regard “marketing” as an umbrella which covers advertising and advertising covers paid and unpaid outlets. So, I’m not dodging the question of advertising as much as I find it valuable to look a little beyond the standard-issue responses. Afterall, there are plenty of obvious sources for advertising: link exchanges with their questionable inbound/outbound link value, AdSense/AdWords with their own voodoo which, when mastered, can bring a tidy sum, print media – which a lot of online retailers forget about, and so on. So, I sometimes take the liberty that, when I’m asked about advertising, I venture a tad further into one of the things I feel is huge bang for the buck, can yield targeted traffic, and draws upon the same skills we use in creating keywords and fresh content for our online presence already – the press release.

Yes, I think the standard-issue suggestions we read in the forums are correct, most of the time – those of firing up a blog, fine-tuning AdWords, banner exchanges, paid advertising in complimentary (but not competitive) online circles. They work okay for some, better for others, and sometimes not well for even more. So, since so many of those topics have how-to books, tutorials, and probably late-night infomercials dedicated to them – I’ll assume there’s no shortage of advice out there for the average person. Like you – I, too, only get so much mileage out of those things before it seems like the progress stops or even produces negative returns (spending more money on ad words than I make in sales).

The one thing that is under our command at any, given moment – something that is not likely to be duplicated too closely by even your nearest competitor, something that can bring attention and awareness to you and generate buzz better than anything is the press release.

I’m not talking about the plain-vanilla press release most tired, old marketing books teach, either. I’m talking about exciting, informative, calls-to-action that editors of newspapers, magazines, radio program directors, and so on get off their butt to respond to.

At the risk of going into a response to your question part-way and then bailing I will say that press releases can be as highly effective or totally worthless as a person makes them. The average press release is written with no particular reason other than to fulfill obligations to company investors and they read every bit as exciting (insert sarcasm here):

“The Blipfish corporation reports record earnings!”
“Today, El Blippo, CEO and head popcorn popper of Blip Enterprises held a press conference to congratulate employees and investors alike on another successful year…”

[Zzzzzzzzzzz.... someone wake me up when it's over].

The average book and tutorial on writing press releases, I swear, were written by the same person back in 1945 and are basically resurrected over and over again, year after year, with barely an alteration just so someone can make bucks off yet another publicity how-to book.

I’m not talking about press releases that only you and your mother could care about. I’m suggesting you seriously entertain creating a well-crafted press release that gets the attention of an editor or radio station program director (or whomever) and convinces them that their readers and listeners would seriously want to hear about you and whatever it is you do. Trust me, the world of selling tshirts online and making any tangible money from it is of great interest to readers or listeners! I have the constant traffic, questions, letters, clients, and customers that found me from a Wall Street Journal interview I did in 2005 to prove it! I might add – these things often start with a press release. Imagine the power of composing a powerful, interesting, and provocative two paragraphs and landing yourself front-page coverage on one of the US’s most respected business newspapers! An article – about you and your business! That is exposure you can’t pay for. Even if you could purchase a front page, 1,000 word ad it would cost you something in the ten-thousand dollar range and even then… it’s an arbitrary (if not insanely large) rate that is only for an ad… something the reader knows is a plug. Landing an article or interview gives credibility because it is assumed that 1) if the media person thinks you’re important enough to write about or interview you must therefor be important and 2) everything wonderful that is written or said about you is gospel and true and you can take it to the bank.

…try getting that level of credibility and exposure from a paid advertisement that people are instantly guarded about.

So, again, it’s not that I don’t value purchasing traditional advertising nor do I argue that it has its effective place in a business model. What I’m saying is that if you’ve reached a point where run-of-the-mill resources (search engines, advertising, link exchanges, banner programs, etc.) are reaching a plateau and you don’t want the expense of kicking them up to the next level (cost of more expensive ad words, expense of a printed ad in Rolling Stone Magazine, etc.) then consider the cost-to-benefit (free-to-immeasureable) of a press release. There’s no better way than to do something to get the media to talk to you rather than pay to speak through them at an audience.

I still get business and traffic from articles and interviews I gave in 2001! As a matter of fact, I often get hit up for more interviews because it always seems that no matter how many people read an article or how many newspapers carried the story… there’s always some newspaper somewhere that is just now stumbling across it and thinking they need to jump on the bandwagon. That’s a good thing – and if you can demonstrate you are a great interview and you are interesting, have something unique to say, and that the newspaper’s readers would genuinely find interesting… you’ll be well on your way to convincing that editor he should do a story on you. Once you get to that stage – it’s not difficult to arrange some kind of terms that make it clear that you are a benefit to him and deserve some kind of benefit for yourself so either a plug for a product, mention of a website, or general contact information is only fair (and you won’t do it unless you get some minor benefit from it since they don’t pay you).

What does it take to create a press release? Well, here’s where I bail a little on the topic. It’s not that I’m not willing to share – it’s just that it’s a subject that has more to it than I can write at the moment. However, have no fear – it’s actually *very much* at the top of my short list for articles to write about on my blipfish.com blog. I subscribe to a different method of crafting a press release than the average, boring Joe does. Format is important – but content is key – and I promise I’ll talk about that very soon – it’s probably my #2 priority for articles.

However, what you can consider, in the meantime is this: WHAT can you do to justify even sending a press release? The articles out there on the intertubes are everywhere for the mechanics of composing a properly formated press release (just join and read PRWeb.com – excellent service). The trick is to actually come up with a reason to say “Hey, look at me!” that doesn’t sound like a left-handed excuse to just draw attention to your business. Editors hate businesses that look obvious (or even not-so-obvious) that they are just trying to drum up business. Instead, the value to an editor is what is interesting and, like I already mentioned, the world of selling tshirts online is very interesting when you’re one of the success stories.

All a person needs, then, is some little (but genuine) excuse to send out a release. Maybe a local event you’re involved in, perhaps a social topic that is already hot in the media and you and your tshirts are making a statement about it – or better yet – your business itself is tackling the issue (like donating profits to a local shelter, creating awareness during breast cancer awareness month, and so on). If you can genuinely, honestly, and sincerely come up with a story that just happens to involve you and your business or product that is part of a bigger picture that an editor would be interested in… your foot is in the door for an interview.

Which would you rather have, as an editor? Another boring earnings report from a local company story? Or, a charity event being supported by some tshirt guro who’s making more money than the employee at the store who sells the shirt the editor himself is wearing?

Now, there’s even more distance and interest you can cover – and I promise I’ll create an article about it. Those are just the basic ideas to get the wheels turning in your head. There are other, more interesting angles I suggest people look for when justifying a press release going out. You don’t want to send garbage releases out – editors can not only smell them a mile away but you can also find yourself on the receiving end of the media equivalent of standing in the corner – your name can be ignored in the future. This is one little tidbit (and I’ll discuss others) that many editors don’t talk about but it definitely happens – getting blackballed because you’re trolling for cheap publicity with nothing to offer. So, I suggest just pondering this idea, doing a little research first, mull it over – and I’ll have more to offer on the topic soon to help get the ball rolling.

So, since you took the time to ask (and I appreciate that you did) I figured you deserve an answer from me that might be a bit beyond what the average person might give – afterall, you were wanting new ideas and suggestions to take your business to the next level and I believe that once advertising and keywords are doing what they should be.. press releases are definitely the next level. (Well, I lie, I feel they should be one of the first things an entrepreneur learns but that didn’t segue as well from my last sentence).

At any rate, I feel if a person asks me a question, it’s pointless (and a disservice) for me to give a vanilla-answer when I believe there is a much more flavorful answer to be found – particularly someone I think would put that answer to good use and not just devalue it and ignore it because it’s free advice. To that end, I hope I gave you the kind of answer you hoped instead of just giving you a link to Google’s ad rate page or some response about adjusting the colors on your website?

If so – I’m happy and hope we’ve either accomplished or started you on another path toward kicking up your sales to that next level.

[I end with a short personal chat with her at this point].

The next exchange had a few questions about the ins-and-outs of submitting press releases… is it better to file with only one type of agency or service, or several, etc. My response is as follows:

Well, I will admit that what I “recommend” in terms of where to send PR’s to is more a matter of habit and even a little “old school” upbringing (well, as old school as a 38 year old can be). I prefer this *general* approach to disseminating my press releases:

1. File with PRWeb or a similar, respected service – it’s a good, catch-all. It’s also easy and quick so there’s no excuse not to.
2. Send a good, old fashioned FAX to specific media sources you’d LIKE to have cover your story.
3. File with any online service that you feel worthwhile but does not require exclusivity, obviously.
4. Always file a copy on your own website – either your company site or the store/site in question, if you prefer. Either way – build a media/publicity site. Sometimes media outlets surf the web too and Google will pick it up as well.

The thing is, as odd as it sounds, some PR services have bizarre terms that request you use them exclusively and not file with another firm/service unless you use a somewhat different PR. I find that ludicrous. I craft my PR’s a great deal and, if I’ve done it right, my final PR is exactly what I need and should be totally acceptable to duplicate to the Seattle Times as it is to the Pleasantville Independent Press. I see no justification in making me reword/rewrite a PR just to make some service (usually online ones) feel special by exclusivity.

The point about targeting specific media outlets is because, with experience, you may see a trend that you want to capitalize on… younger readership, technology friendly, business oriented, “success story” friendly, or you may just want to try the local-town-gal-does-well angle and publish to your local paper. The point being, is that blanket bombing works – but there can be a benefit toward picking specific media outlets because you feel they are good leverage for your time (whatever time it takes to mail, fax, or email – your call on how valuable your time is). But, more importantly – if you get one to bite – the rest often follow.

Many people think that blanket-bombing hundreds of media outlets to get a nibble is what it’s about. I can’t say it doesn’t work sometimes – but if you craft a press release that, for example, expounds the virtues of home based, retail, fascinating world of tshirt sales, against-all-odds, type of content you’re probably better off submitting to media that eat that sort of story up. If they pick the story up – others often follow because that’s just how papers and radio work: they call you because they heard/read you somewhere else and figure that if so-and-so did a story on you they should too.

So, I’m not answering you quite directly because I don’t think it has to be one or the other, one only, or whatever. I think a little research into a prospective outlet can help you craft a PR that has, at least, a tiny flavor to it that specific outlets find more appealing than others. Just like we write keywords and descriptions for the benefit of Google (probably first and foremost) we also should consider a mild consideration of our PR toward specific outlets. Some might be ezines, sometimes general directories are equally valid due to the nature of your PR, other times (for example) you might want to really push the technology-geek angle and it’s clear that it will influence where you submit.

Does that answer, at least a little, what you were asking?

For what it’s worth, and this is getting less and less the case, I own a few editions of Bacon’s media databases. At the time, faxes were the technology of the day and email was only barely reliable. My databases contain all the newspapers, radio stations, etc. in the US – millions. If I wanted to get the name and number of a director named “Bob” for all 30,000 watt radio stations within a 300 mile squared area…this database would do it.

Nowadays, it’s a little easier with online services but it’s still important to sometimes send to particular outlets, a fax, just like the old days – email is so popular and editors so besieged that sometimes they hit the delete-button so quickly you’ll be glad their fax machine at least has a piece of paper they need to pick up. I’ve spoken with editors – they don’t like to admit this but sometimes they just toss things because they looked shabby, sounded “pitchy” from word-one, or didn’t get formatted professionally, or were repeat-repeat-repeat blanket bomb offenders whose names are on an editorial watch-list like known airline terrorists… throw-away-on-sight. So, don’t go down that road, either by spamming PR’s. No good will come from it.